the view at kelawat eco farm.

Para, thanks. Will see what i can do.

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Added on April 24, 2012, 3:32 pmWah,, kissan, you familiar with that place? looks nice eh. a bit hilly though.

Seems like the weather will be cool.

Dear Michael J,

          Thanks for the valuable insight. It really will be nice to see the new technology that have been brought in to Malaysia. One more reason that I did not consider prawn farming is also due to the limited lands available or suitable for a large scale project. As you might know RAS system can easily be deployed on land. I have just concluded a deal to rent a piece of land for my business. As such, to convert it into a pond might not be feasible for me as I would need to literally dig up most part of the land which my landlord would not be agreeable to. Therefore there lies my only option which is through RAS. Well, instead of saying that it is RAS system. I would consider it as canvas culture which is somewhat unique to Malaysia. I came to understand that a lot of farmers in Malaysia are using canvas instead of tanks to save cost on materials. I am liaising with Marble Goby Enterprise regarding the use of this technology for farming Tilapia and apparently they informed me that it is quite feasible.

          Would like to ask for your opinion on using canvas to farm tilapia?

MrFarmer : when you get back from Sabah....do make time to come over to my farm. let's share some ideas

Hi Razkyo,

to start you could use the canvas first to test out the system. once you reach breakeven or projected profitability then you can try to use fiber glass as you are more assured of the operations and everything

agreed with MichaelJ., that fiber glass last much longer and more durable thus the higher cost. Good Thing No Cheap, Cheap Thing No Good...haha

Bro,

we can go to our farm either on 15th or 16th May 2012. so let's meet up on that day

i will be away from 17th - 19th May....

@MrFarmer:
Insect feeding/sucking sap from your leaf ? i saw some small white white thing on the leaf.

Mr Farmer:

The top two photos on papaya have pest problems, night-flying beetles. If you find black frass (crap) on the lower leaves, then you're likely to have night-flying beetles. This is the initial stage of attack. My cacao tree was devastated by night-flying beetles in this same way. You can use malathion mixed with a sticker-solution, or use Dipel which is a biopesticide. Dipel is more expensive though, and washes off quite easily, so use this only intermittently with chemical controls.

Third papaya picture shows nutrient deficiency. You may need to clear the grass nearby, and apply some additional kieserite and urea. Reduce you potassium inputs (eg. bunch ash, MOP etc.), or better still, don't apply until budding is seen. I feel that there could be competition effect between potassium, magnesium and nitrogen happening.

You mango tree has sap-sucking insect attacking it. Looks like symptoms of red spider mites, but please check the underside of the leaves first. If you see reddish-colored crab-like/tiny spider like things dashing about, then confirmed. Otherwise, you could have other more mobile sap suckers, like rice bugs or mictis. For mites, you need to use Mitec, or apply soapy solutions (like mild, diluted detergents, unscented bath soapwater etc.), followed by malathion or cypermethrin. Both are class 1 chemicals, so be careful. The newer formulations may have lower classifications, but still, be careful.

Hi, I'm not a farmer but I do farm a bit at home for own consumption.

Need the guru here to advise a bit.

Do you plant the seeds in square container and later transfer them to the ground after they start to sprout ?

Or you just spread the seeds to the ground and let them grow from there ?

I notice some farms looks so organize and beautiful when the veges are planted row by row line by line like queue up.

Thanks for any advise 

Thanks everyone ! 

Just sawi only... it's painful if need to transfer the little fellow from plastic tray to land when they sprout...might kill the roots if not careful lol...

I guess if it's vege with many leaves just spread it on the ready plot of land and let them grow. If it's those that grow upward until knee length then use plastic tray to keep them safe.

Just curious, with huge piece of land you had, how you prevent wild animals or people coming in to curi your sayur ? Fence it ?

By the way, anyone rent these land before ? Looks cheap...RM250/acre... I think is from agrotourism kinta highlands...

http://www.mudah.my/Tanah+Pertanian+di+Kin...nd-14609236.htm

Facing some bug attack on my jackfruit trees....haha

and I forgot to use "anti-hair fall shampoo" one of the tree

hehe i dont know. i bought the small 400gm pack to try and plan to buy in bigger quantity. i have enquired supplier from Johor , they quoted me rm1900/ton exclusive of delivery charges. i dont think i'm buying that much at the moment maybe around 100kg so i tried to enquire from the kl/selangor suppliers and still waiting for their reply.

i'm worried also if i'm buying the same thing. ts, is there many types of fish meal but they work the same o they dont if there is no difference in ratio of npk mentioned la. should i just buy from kl/selangor area? thanks

i thought of collecting the bones from eateries but i'm not too sure how to process them. whether to just crush them o smoke them first before crushing. i'm also worried that just crushing them will invite flies/pests

thanks ya!!!

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Added on May 27, 2012, 5:17 am

thanks ya, trhat's very useful.

ok, thanks mr farmer^^

they would work perfectly on my mother's orchid. she was previously using those raw clam juice to fertilise her orchids.

anyone knows where can i buy grafting tape here? thanks.

mr farmer, can big pvc pipe help? cut the prefered height and then cut some of the wall off to fit throught the tree trunk without hurting the tree and hammer it down around the tree?

haha just my 2 cents..never detach the sucker from banana before. well, i can only find tie tape, the green one, so far. i need the transparent one. the nursery owner here has weird thinking. they're reluctant to sell the grafting tape to us worrying that that will encourage more hybrids and less sale for them. i am currently grafting adenium rose flower plant and not yet into fruit plant hehe   oh, did i mention that i'm in kl? where's ur location mr farmer?

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Added on June 4, 2012, 2:13 pm

the sale only opens to farmer?

Yep.... till graded durin sold in sepang going for RM1 each.

Mr Farmer:

Sugarcane does have more uses, but it depends on what you want to do with it. And also volume. The quick-win, low-hanging-fruit method of getting better value for your sugar cane is by juicing it, and selling bottled juice to restaurants. Whole canes only fetch high prices during festivals (not only Chinese festivals, but also Indian festivals as well).

The bagasse (the remnant pulp after squeezing) can be used to produce biofertilizers and mulch, or to produce biofuels through microbial fermentative breakdown. However for these, you need a large amount of volume to be profitable. Anything north of 100mt of dried bagasse could be profitable.

As for sugars, not worth it. But if you make candy or molasses from it, then maybe profitable. Especially if you have lots of firewood. Sugarcane treacle anyone?

If fermentable beverages are allowed (which I think Sabah and Sarawak natives are permitted to make, about 30L a year(?)), you could consider fermenting sugarcane with brewers yeast, mix in a few other stuff like edible/flavorful spices etc. and produce something good. Think mead (honey wine). But I doubt you can sell homebrews legally in Malaysia. You might get away with bartering it instead.

The bagasse could also be ground up into a sweet animal feed, more like a treat. Usually this is given in wet form, before it ferments. I know of some people who use it to feed their buffaloes. I also got to know one sick ******* who fed his buffalo fermented baggasse, and the creature became drunk. It got all rowdy and farty. You might get better luck feeding fermented baggasse to goats; the only downside is probably more young goats being born the next season.